Catholic League Track Championships: Cardinal O'Hara earns another team title

Archbishop Carroll's Rachel Flynn captures the 1,600-meter run at the Catholic League Championships Saturday in 5:08.06. The win completed a sweep of the 800 and 1,600 for the second straight year at the Catholic meet for Flynn. (Times staff / JULIA WILKINSON)

UPPER DARBY -- Grace Mancini could have won the girls 3,200-meter run during the Catholic League Track and Field Championships with ease Saturday afternoon at Upper Darby High School. The freshman from Cardinal O'Hara was in front and in control with 70 or so meters to go when she decided to show the ultimate display of sportsmanship.

Mancini slowed down and let junior teammate Julia DelGrosso pass her and take home the gold medal. Mancini insisted that was not the case, that she simply was tired from finishing third in the 1,600 about an hour earlier and ran out of game.

DelGrosso, though, wasn't buying it, and neither were their teammates and coaches.

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"She definitely slowed up," DelGrosso said. "That's Grace. She's all about the team. She cares more about the team than she does about herself."

Mancini's show of sportsmanship wasn't a spur-of-the-moment decision. It was on display throughout the race, DelGrosso said.

"I couldn't have done this without Grace," DelGrosso said. "She kept cheering me on throughout the race, encouraging me to keep going."

That was the motto of the team, too. The Lions turned in another dominating performance to cruise to their seventh straight Catholic League title and ninth in 10 years. O'Hara scored in every event, including four of the top six places in both the 3,200 and pole vault.

Senior Allison Sharkey was her usual versatile self, winning medals in the 100 (fourth), 200 (fourth), 400 (second) and 300 hurdles (fourth). Keir won the 300 intermediate hurdles, took fifth in the 1,200 and was on the 4 x 100-meter relay team that finished second. Mancini picked up two medals, as did Marissa Cicione (second in the 800, fourth in 1,600) Annie McFadden (first in pole vault, second in 4 x 100) Erin Dolan (fourth in 3,200, anchored the winning 4 x 800 relay team), Alexandra Patrick (second in both the long and triple jumps) and Kim Whelan (first in show put, fourth in discus).

"Everything we do is about the team," Keir said. "Everyone is out here for the same reason, to do whatever we can to help the team win."

Archbishop Carroll All-Delco Rachel Flynn put on the most impressive performance on the track. The Temple-bound senior was named girls Runner of the Meet after winning both the 800- and 1,600-meter runs for the second straight year.

Flynn held off O'Hara's Marissa Cicione to win the 800 in 2:19.96 and then pulled away from Kelly to take the 1,600 in 5:08.06.

"I wanted to win so badly," Flynn said of her back-to-back double. "There definitely was a lot of pressure on me because there were so many great runners in each race that I just had to focus and run my best."

Call it Payback No. 2. Sarah Dever, Victoria Jones, Jules Groshon and Lauren Lamoureux of Bonner-Prendergast topped Cardinal O'Hara to win the 4 x 400-meter relay for the second straight year. The foursome has been on a mission ever since they lost to the Lions in the Penn Relays.

It was the second successful chance at revenge for the Pandas. Bonner-Prendergast beat O'Hara for fifth place at last week's Delaware County Championships.

"Ever since the Penn Relays we've been focused on beating them," Dever said. "We weren't peaking yet, but now we're starting to get it together."

Jones, a junior, continues to make strides. She had a personal-best time while taking second in the 200 (25.87 seconds). She, Dever and Lamoureux won two medals each for the Pandas.